The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to steer her squad into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding comprehensive win over Bangladesh.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, coming just a few days after her equally impressive 142-run knock that saw off the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam venue. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run first-wicket stand with her opening partner (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just 24.5 overs.
“I felt I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll take the two points and move on,” Healy remarked.
Interestingly, the supreme professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps Australia’s shoddiest display in the fielding department under the captain's stewardship, with the captain scolding herself in particular for dropping two of the six catches that went down.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and luckily delivered,” Healy continued.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in the year 2013, the six dropped catches represented the team's worst fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll analyze,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat, their highest score in an ODI against the Aussies, with a key batter compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric continuous ten-over spell, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was key to ensuring the team's chase wasn’t too challenging.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the triumph, which places her undefeated side at the top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a wash-out, secures them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 deliveries, the fastest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, reaching to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 balls soon after her partner reached hers off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian pair at a World Cup event.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, Healy dropped the simplest of edges off a teammate and also failed to hold on to a difficult lofted one off Annabel Sutherland. Frustratingly, she also take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their shout.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the Aussies’ costliest bowling option, conceding 0-52 off her nine overs.
Spin Attack Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if a fielder hadn’t dropped one in the slip cordon.
Other spin bowlers Georgia Wareham (two for 22 off seven overs) and Gardner (two for 48 off nine) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her total to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their highest-ever total against the Australians, but the target was rendered straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side a few days earlier.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ beside your name in a World Cup,” said player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to returning to the next venue to take on England and South Africa.”
